UPDATE 1-Czechs ban liquor exports after bootleg booze kills 23

PRAGUE, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Czech government imposed animmediate ban on all exports of hard liquor on Thursdayfollowing the deaths of 23 people from methyl alcohol poisoning,Prime Minister Petr Necas said.

The Czech Republic banned all hard liquor sales in shops andpubs last Friday after the poisonings, believed caused bybootleg alcohol.

It plans to gradually reopen the domestic market from themiddle of next week, using new tax stamps and certifications oforigin of drinks.

The new export ban, covering all alcohol with over 20percent alcohol content but not the country's trademark beers,followed information that the European Union was preparing toban exports on Friday unless the Czech government acted itself,Necas said.

"The government came to the conclusion that it will be morefavourable for the Czech Republic to have the imposition andlater the lifting of the ban in its own hands," Necas told anews conference after an emergency government meeting.

The government had until Thursday resisted an export ban,arguing that alcohol from major producers was safe.

Slovakia and Poland have already banned imports from theCzech Republic. The two countries take about 50 percent of Czechliquor exports, worth $80 million last year.

Police have charged 30 people with crimes related to bootlegbooze after a series of raids in the past days, but have not yetfound the origin of the deadly spirits.

Investigators suspect methanol was mixed into bootleg boozemade from industrial alcohol and sold under fake labels such asvodka, rum or fruit distillates.

The Czech union of spirit makers has estimated that 15-25percent of all liquor sold in the country of 10.5 million peopleis bootleg, often made from industrial alcohol and cleaned upthrough a simple chemical process.

The illicit booze trade is centred in the industrialnortheast, near the Polish border. Industry insiders say thetrade has grown since a hike in excise tax on alcohol in 2010which was an austerity measure in response to the globaleconomic crisis.

The Czechs have the world's highest beer consumption ofaround 140 litres per capita per year and are among the world'sheaviest drinkers in general.